Turi Salina had been my best friend when we were little. Her family had been part of my Mom's old pack. Her older sister Catherine was around Jayk's age. She used to babysit us. When we were nine, Cat was killed in a raid. Her Mom was never the same. When we were in middle school, they joined the pack and she changed.
Turi had been the sweetest girl and almost overnight she became cruel. She stopped coming around the girls we hung out with. They all started joining out of fear. By the time we were all in high school, there were only three of us left.
I never blamed any of them for choosing to survive. It's cold out there. I was under no illusion. Growing up meant having to choose a side. Patty and Rav were in school on the day of the shooting. They were the last real friends I had left.
The night before, Jayk and I had been fighting about me staying out late with my friends. I told him that he wasn't my father and that he should learn to mind his
The two of us stare at one another for a moment. He's full-on challenging me. His pretty eyes glisten against the light streaming through the sliding door. Neither of us moves a muscle. We don't blink. I don't know why I find it so erotic. Why do I want him to move just enough to trigger an attack? "Miles!" I growl at the sound of my idiot brother's voice. "Next time, killer," he grins and slides the door open. "What were you-" Jayk stops talking when I crawl out of the closet next. "If there's another one of you in there, I'm hitting someone," he growls and turns his attention to Miles. "I need you to run something for me," "Nothing was happening, man. We just needed to make the room smaller," Miles takes the piece of paper Jayk hands him. "And it's just the two of us," I add. "You're having panic attacks again?" Jayk asks me. "One, that never happened. I used to have sleep paralysis. Two, that's actually your fault. You used to hide me in your closet when Dad lost his
The bikes lead us to an old ranch in the nicer part of the city. The houses aren't exactly alone, but they're not close to one another either. It must be as peaceful as it is back home. There's also space for better security measures and of course, parties, which is what's going on right now. "This fucking idiot," Miles growls and taps the screen. "Yo," Jayk answers immediately. "This turd is having a party," "Are you fucking serious? Shut it down. If he refuses, you got a little monster with you. Use her," he growls and hangs up. Miles looks over at me as we're led to a barn away from the party. "Lead the way, beta partner," I smirk. "Are you going to scare some kids home, killer?" he says and pops the trunk. "I hope so," I laugh and climb out. The trunk is filled with packs of marijuana and coke bricks. A group of guys approach and start stuffing them in reusable shopping bags
Ottis lets the wolves that attacked us go and leads us back toward the barn. My skin prickles when our shadows find us. Lori signals me from the direction the wolves had come from. I feel sorry if anyone got caught in their path. I refuse to let Miles and me back into that little room. There was no way I was going to let us get caged in. "You proud of yourself?" Ottis asks me when one of the guys brings out a couple of duffle bags with what I am guessing is payment for Miles's delivery. He uses a tone that gets my stomach fluttering and not in a fun way like the guys do. "Excuse me?" I glare at him. "You killed that guy," he says accusingly. "And?" I laugh. "He charged me. Do you think I'm going to feel bad about that?" "He's twenty-two," "The kid Arthur killed in his dungeon was eighteen and he wasn't a threat to him. If you think you can spook me by pointing out the obvious. You clearly don't know who the fuck you're dealing with," I scoff. "Nope," Miles steps between
The tone he used earlier is back and I don't know what it is about it that just has me completely speechless. His eyes are glowing. His full attention is on my body as he gently repositions my legs. His arms are under my thighs. He's holding me up against the dashboard and I see the full intent of what he plans to do to me. His eyes come up to mine and hold me there. "I want you to keep your eyes on me," he orders. Hallowed Be Thy Nameis playing on the playlist he made for me. I bite down on my tongue to keep myself from making a single sound. His lips press against the inside of my thigh while my heart hammers in my chest like a beast fighting to get out. The restraints only make all of my newly active instincts come alive that much more. It's like I've gone into full survivor mode without the fear. Slowly he makes his way closer to my center while I fight every urge to shut my thighs. He hasn't even done anything to me and my legs
Turi and her team have fixed up some of the abandoned homes near the entrance of the pack grounds. Six on both sides. Miles and count the cars. Three at each house. A couple of hogs at the one closest to the gate. We stay here for a few hours just watching before we head back to the burger stand. "Your scent is all over the place," he says when I walk into the kitchen to get my stash. "I used to come here to get away from all of you," I say tossing him a band. He catches the money effortlessly and holds it up judgingly. "We annoyed you?" "Yeah, I wasn't part of the team and you guys made sure I knew it," "We were protecting you," he scoffs as I tuck the twenty-two into my jacket. "Got it," I smile when my fingertips touch the old flip phone. I stuff it into my pocket and dust myself off. His scent is all over me and I'm in love with it. "We can go home now," "How are you feeling?" he as
The mean one? Miles? I laugh to myself as I make my way to the training area. I haven't seen Every in a while and I kind of miss how weird she is. I had heard from the others that pups and more women are running around the pack grounds. I haven't seen it for myself so I admit I'm a little excited to see more people. While I like being alone, I miss the sound of others around me. It was one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed attending school. The things I would hear from my peers were always fun. The sound of children laughing catches my attention. I round the wooden gates that lead up to the gym and immediately I get hit with a water balloon. The entire left side of my body is drenched. When I look up completely in shock by the sudden assault of cold water, I see some kids and those training with Ashton and Lydia looking at me wide-eyed. I shake the water on my arm off and laugh. "I needed that," I turn my gaze to the kids. They start to apologize and then
"Are you and the little fairy-" I let the question drop as Jayk hands me a coffee mug. "No," he says and starts his Jeep. I don't know what he has in the back but it's packed. "Morning," Micca drops into the back seat with a groan. "I told you guys to get some fucking rest. We might be out all day," Jayk scolds. "I slept like it was my first day of basic training," I did. It was amazing. I doubt I've ever slept that well without substance help. "I slept," Micca says. "That's the problem," Jayk plays his music lowly. It doesn't take long before Micca's low snores soothe my nervousness. I haven't seen Lucinda since Jayk put me on lockdown after triggering my warhead gene. Jayk and I could have gone alone and it bothers me that the three of us are together like this. It's a lot of power for just a meeting. "What?" Jayk says when I try to get comfortable for the tenth time.
Jayk I must admit that I was a little skeptical about bringing Dagmar with me. This is the first serious situation she's put in and I don't know how we'll react to one another if we go active. The first couple of times I did this with Leelie, she and I almost killed one another trying to take out our targets. The only difference now is that Dagmar has submitted and accepted her role as my beta. So, things like this are going to have to become normal for us. Humans are fickle things. They're quick to change their mind about things if they feel the vibe is off. I'm not exactly sure what the hell that means but Lucille has clarified that her brother will become hostile if we come off a little sketchy. I don't know who the fuck she's been dealing with, but Dagmar is the sketchiest person I've ever had to deal with. It's one thing after another with her. I'm just as impressed as the others and I hope we pass the "vibe check" or whatever it is Lucille call